Soak chana dal for at least 30 minutes in a small bowl. Drain and use.
Grind peanuts and green chilies to a coarse paste.
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine flours, sesame seeds, drained chana dal, ground peanut mixture, ghee and salt. Mix with your fingers to form a crumbly mixture. Add just enough water and mix everything to form a stiff dough similar to puri dough. Knead a couple of times.
Heat oil for deep frying on medium flame. Take a small lemon size piece of the dough and pat it into a disc on an oiled Ziploc bag or aluminum foil.
Gently slide in the dough disc into the hot oil and fry on medium flame until golden brown on both sides. Remove onto a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining dough. Let cool completely before enjoying them. Store completely cooled chekkalu in an air tight container.
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Notes
Make sure to rub the butter or ghee into the flour before adding water. This ensures that the texture of final pappu chekkalu is buttery and crumbly.
Soak chana dal for at least 30 minutes to ensure that it is soft before using in the recipe.
Make sure that the oil is at medium temperature.
Thattai have to be fried at even medium flame until lightly browned and crispy. DO NOT fry on high flame, this will change the color too soon and they will turn soggy as they cool.
Make sure to cool nippattu completely before storing.
Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
Chekkalu in air fryer or baked nippattu recipe:
Preheat the air fryer/ oven to 350°F.
Lightly grease a baking sheet and evenly space chekkalu on it.
Bake for 12~16 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. Make sure to flip them halfway through.